From one photography collector to another: a venue for thoughtful discussion of vintage and contemporary photography via reviews of recent museum exhibitions, gallery shows, photography auctions, photo books, art fairs and other items of interest to photography collectors large and small.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Phillips' Contemporary Art sale last week (during the frenzy of New York art fairs) only had 5 lots of photography on offer. The top lot in this small group failed to sell, and as a result, the total photo proceeds missed the estimate range by a decent margin.

The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):

Total Lots: 5

Pre Sale Low Total Estimate: $415000

Pre Sale High Total Estimate: $595000

Total Lots Sold: 4

Total Lots Bought In: 1

Buy In %: 20.00%

Total Sale Proceeds: $298100

Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post, here):

Low Total Lots: 0

Low Sold: NA

Low Bought In: NA

Buy In %: NA

Total Low Estimate: $0

Total Low Sold: NA

Mid Total Lots: 1

Mid Sold: 1

Mid Bought In: 0

Buy In %: 0.00%

Total Mid Estimate: $35000

Total Mid Sold: $35000

High Total Lots: 4

High Sold: 3

High Bought In: 1

Buy In %: 25.00%

Total High Estimate: $560000

Total High Sold: $263100

The top lot by High estimate was lot 33, Gilbert & George, Friend Fear, 1983, at $150000-250000; it did not sell. The top outcome of the sale was lot 9, John Baldessari, Vertical Series: Attempt, 2003, at $98500. (Image at right, via Phillips.)

100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in the estimate range. There were no surprises in this sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate).